Assembled circuit and electronic component

ABSTRACT

An electrical component is disclosed, the electrical component comprising: a magnetic body having a top surface, a bottom surface, wherein at least one first conductive through hole is formed from the top surface to bottom surface of the magnetic body; and a coil disposed in the magnetic body, wherein a first end of the coil is electrically connected to one of the at least one first conductive through hole.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/094,811, filed Dec. 3, 2013, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 13/602,326, filed Sep. 4, 2012, which is adivisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/348,105 filed on Jan.2, 2009, which claims priority of Taiwan application No. 097100160 filedon Jan. 3, 2008, wherein the entirety of the above-mentioned patentapplications are hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a partof specification.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

I. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an electronic component and anassembled circuit using the same; and more particularly, the presentinvention relates to an electronic component and an assembled circuitthat can improve power density of a power supply as a whole by reducingan overall size of the electronic component.

II. Description of the Prior Art

Nowadays with the development of the power supply technologies,requirements on the power density and the size of a power supply aremore and more critical. There exists a variety of methods for increasingthe power density of a power supply, among which a popular method is toincrease the power density of a power supply by altering some electricalcharacteristics of the power supply. For example, an operating frequencyof the converter may be increased significantly to shrink the sizes ofsome passive components (e.g., an inductor) in expectation of animproved power density. However, there also exists many factors thathave the influence on the power density and the efficiency of aconverter, for example, sizes of individual components, the structuraldesign of the converter as a whole and the like. Hereinafter, a point ofload (POL) DC to DC converter, which is one kind of DC-DC voltageconverter, will be described for illustration purpose.

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a POL DC to DC converter, which is a buckconverter herein. The POL DC to DC converter 1 comprises an inductor 11,two switch elements 12, 15 (e.g., Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field-EffectTransistors (MOSFETs)), an output capacitor 13 and a control chip 14.The control chip 14 is configured to receive an output feedback signaland an associated voltage adjustment control signal Vadj to control theoperation of the POL DC to DC converter 1.

FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B illustrate a top view and a bottom view of aconventional POL DC to DC converter respectively. The conventional POLDC to DC converter 2 is packaged in a form of an assembled circuit, withconventional through-hole pins being adopted for both input and outputpins thereof. As shown, the POL DC to DC converter 2 comprises a controlchip 21, a circuit board 22, four input/output (I/O) capacitors 23, anumber of through-hole pins 24, a magnetic component (an inductor here)25 and two switch elements 27. The control chip 21 and the outputcapacitors 23 are disposed on one side of the carrier 22 which isusually a printed circuit board (PCB), while the magnetic element 25 andthe two switch elements 27 are disposed on the other side of the circuitboard 22.

The POL DC to DC converter 2 is plugged into a main circuit board (notshown) via the number of through-hole pins 24. However, the through-holepins 24 occupy a certain area on a surface of the circuit board 22.Furthermore, the supporting effect of the pins 24 causes a certainthickness of the circuit board 22. These inevitably increase the volumeof the POL DC to DC converter 2 and further lowers the overall powerdensity thereof.

A top view and a bottom view of another conventional POL DC to DCconverter are illustrated in FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B respectively. Thisconventional POL DC to DC converter 3 is packaged in another form of anassembled circuit, with wave pins being adopted for both input andoutput pins thereof. In this example, the pins are soldered onto asurface of the circuit board. As shown, the POL DC to DC converter 3comprises three capacitors 31 (including output capacitors and/or inputcapacitors), a switch element 32, a plurality of wave pins 33, a carrier34, a magnetic component 35 and a control chip 36. The capacitors 31,the switch element 32 and the magnetic component 35 are disposed on oneside of the carrier 34 which is usually a PCB, while the control chip 36is disposed on the other side of the carrier 34. The POL DC to DCconverter 3 is connected to a main circuit board (not shown) via thewave pins 33.

However, apart from occupying a certain area on the circuit board 34,the wave pins 33 also present a certain height. All these contribute toan increased volume and a decreased power density of the POL DC to DCconverter 3.

In summary, the conventional POL DC to DC converters all suffer from theoversized overall volume and the low power density due to the pinarrangement in the conventional package. Therefore, it is highlydesirable in the art to provide a novel assembled circuit adapted toimprove the power density and shrink the overall size of an electronicapparatus and particularly a voltage converter, thereby to overcome theaforesaid problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One objective of this invention is to provide an assembled circuit foruse with a carrier. The assembled circuit is applied to e.g. a DC to DCconverter to increase the integration, shrink an overall size andimprove a power density of the DC TO DC-converter. The DC to DCconverter is e.g. a buck DC TO DC converter, and particularly a point ofload (POL) DC to DC converter.

To this end, this invention provides an assembled circuit comprising aninductive component and a first electronic component. The inductivecomponent comprises a connecting conductor adapted to wrap a firstsurface of the inductive component. The first electronic componentstacks on and is electrically connected to the inductive component. Theinductive component and the first electronic component are electricallyconnected to a carrier via the connecting conductor.

Another objective of this invention is to provide an electroniccomponent adapted for an assembled circuit. To this end, the electroniccomponent of this invention comprises an electronic component body and aconnecting conductor adapted to warp a first surface of the electroniccomponent body. The electronic component body is electrically connectedto a carrier via the connecting conductor.

The detailed technology and preferred embodiments implemented for thesubject invention are described in the following paragraphs accompanyingthe appended drawings for people skilled in this field to wellappreciate the features of the claimed invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a conventional point of load (POL) DC toDC converter;

FIG. 2A is a top view of a conventional POL DC to DC converter adoptingthrough-hole pins;

FIG. 2B is a bottom view of a conventional POL DC to DC converteradopting through-hole pins;

FIG. 3A is a top view of a conventional POL DC to DC converter adoptingwave pins;

FIG. 3B is a bottom view of a conventional POL DC to DC converteradopting wave pins;

FIG. 4A is a top view of a first electronic component wrapped with afirst conductive layer in a DC to DC converter in accordance with afirst embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 4B is a bottom view of a first electronic component wrapped with afirst conductive layer in a DC to DC converter in accordance with thefirst embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 4C is another top view of a first electronic component wrapped witha first conductive layer in a DC to DC converter in accordance with afirst embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 4D is another bottom view of a first electronic component wrappedwith a first conductive layer in a DC to DC converter in accordance withthe first embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 5A to FIG. 5E illustrate results of individual steps in a processof wrapping the first electronic component with a first conductive layerin the DC to DC converter in accordance with the first embodiment ofthis invention;

FIG. 6A is a bottom view of a DC to DC converter in accordance with thefirst embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 6B is a top view of a DC to DC converter in accordance with thefirst embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 6C is a top view of an assembled circuit incorporating a DC to DCconverter in accordance with the first embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 7A is a top view illustrating a connection between a secondelectronic component and a first conductive layer in a DC to DCconverter in accordance with a second embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 7B is a top view of a DC to DC converter in accordance with thesecond embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 8A is a top view of a second electronic component wrapped with afirst conductive layer in a DC to DC converter in accordance with asixth embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 8B is a top view of a DC to DC converter in accordance with thesixth embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 9A is a top view of a fourth electronic component wrapped with afirst conductive layer in a DC to DC converter in accordance with aseventh embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 9B is a top view of a DC to DC converter in accordance with theseventh embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 10 is a top view of a DC to DC converter in accordance with aneighth embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 11A is a top view of a POL DC to DC converter in accordance with athird embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 11B is a bottom view of the POL DC to DC converter in accordancewith the third embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 11C is a schematic view illustrating a co-fired magnetic materialsubstrate, a first conductive layer and a conductor in accordance withthe third embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 11D is a schematic view illustrating the co-fired magnetic materialsubstrate in accordance with the third embodiment of this invention witha first magnetic material layer being removed;

FIG. 11E is a perspective view of an internal structure corresponding toFIG. 11C;

FIG. 11F is a schematic view illustrating internal circuit layers of theco-fired magnetic material substrate other than a first layer, a secondlayer and the last layer in accordance with the third embodiment of thisinvention;

FIG. 11G is a schematic view of the last circuit layer in the co-firedmagnetic material substrate in accordance with the third embodiment ofthis invention;

FIG. 12A is a top view of a POL DC to DC converter in accordance with afourth embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 12B is a bottom view of a POL DC to DC converter in accordance withthe fourth embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 12C is a schematic view illustrating a substrate made of a magneticmaterial, a first conductive layer and a conductor in accordance withthe fourth embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 12D is a perspective view of an internal structure corresponding toFIG. 12C;

FIG. 13A is a top view of a POL DC to DC converter in accordance with afifth embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 13B is a bottom view of a POL DC to DC converter in accordance withthe fifth embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 13C is a schematic view illustrating a magnetic material substrate,a first conductive layer, an insulating layer and a conductor inaccordance with the fifth embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 13D is a side view of FIG. 13C;

FIG. 13E is a schematic view of the magnetic material substrate inaccordance with the fifth embodiment of this invention without aninsulating layer being covered thereon;

FIG. 13F is a perspective view of an internal structure corresponding toFIG. 13E;

FIG. 14A is a top view of an inductor made of an iron core through alaminating process;

FIG. 14B is a bottom view of an inductor made of an iron core through alaminating process;

FIG. 14C is a schematic view of coil pins; and

FIG. 14D is a schematic view illustrating a structure of a coil insidean inductor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

To effectively improve the power density and shrink the overalldimensions of an electronic apparatus, particularly a power converter,this invention provides a novel pin scheme adapted to be widely used ina variety of common electronic apparatuses. Referring to FIGS. 4A, 4Cand 4B, 4D, top views and bottom views of an inductive component 62 inaccordance with a first embodiment of this invention are illustratedrespectively therein. More specifically, the inductive component 62 maybe an inductor, and in practical application, may be a co-fired magneticmaterial inductor or a wire wound compressed inductor. It should benoted that, the inductive component 62 in this embodiment is only forpurpose of illustration, and in practice, the technology disclosed inthis invention may be applied to other electronic component such as afield-effect transistor (FET).

As one of the characteristics of this invention, an outer surface of theinductive component 62 is wrapped with a first conductive layer 61 on anouter surface thereof. The first conductive layer 61 has a connectingconductor 40 and a pin conductor 40′. The connecting conductor 40 wrapsa first surface of the outer surface of the inductive component 62,while the pin conductor 40′ wraps a second outer surface of the outersurface of the inductive component 62. The pin conductor 40′ acts aspins of the inductive component 62, e.g., as pins of an inductor. Whenthis invention is applied to other electronic component such as an FET,the pin conductor 40′ may act as a gate, a source or a drain of the FET.The inductive component 62 by itself is connected to external circuitsvia the pin conductor 40′. In this embodiment, the first surfacecomprises several areas of the outer surface of the inductive component62, including a portion of a side surface, a portion of a top surfaceand a portion of a bottom surface. The second surface comprises severalother areas of the outer surface of the inductive component 62,including other portions of the side surface and other portions of thetop surface. The surface oriented upwards in FIG. 4B is defined as thetop surface of the inductive component 62, while the surface orientedupwards in FIG. 4A is defined as the bottom surface of the inductivecomponent 62.

Areas of the outer surface of the inductive component 62 covered by thefirst surface and the second surface recited above and correspondingaspects depicted in the figures are only for purpose of illustration,rather than to limit the scope of this invention. In practicalapplications, areas belonged to the first surface or the second surfacemay be optionally adjusted according to practical requirements.Additionally, it should be noted that, the connecting conductor 40 onthe outer surface of the inductive component 62 has at least a portionthereof isolated from the pin conductor 40′, i.e., no direct physicaland electrical connection exists on the outer surface between at least aportion of the connecting conductor 40 and the pin conductor 40′. Morespecifically, only when the inductive component 62 is connected withother electronic components or a circuit board, will the connectingconductor 40 have at least a portion thereof or total electricallyconnected with the pin conductor 40′ indirectly via the other electroniccomponents or the circuit board. In other aspects, the connectingconductor 40 on the outer surface of the inductive component 62 may beentirely isolated from the pin conductor 40′, i.e., no direct physicaland electrical connection exists on the outer surface between the entireconnecting conductor 40 and the pin conductor 40′. More specifically,only when the inductive component 62 is connected with other electroniccomponents or a circuit board, will the connecting conductor 40 as awhole be electrically connected with the pin conductor 40′ indirectlyvia the other electronic components or the circuit board. Refer to FIGS.4A, 4B, 4C and 4D together. In this embodiment, the pin conductor 40′has two pins 41, 45 disposed at two ends respectively on the outersurface of the inductive component 62. The pins 41, 45 act as pins ofthe inductive component 62 to electrically connect the inductivecomponent 62 with any other components or carriers (e.g., a circuitboard). Furthermore, the connecting conductor 40 may be designed invarious forms according to practical requirements. In this embodiment,the connecting conductor 40 has a number of different conductor regions42, 43, 44, 47, 48 wrapping and attaching on the first surface of a bodyof the inductive component 62. For instance, the conductor regions 42,43, 44 act as power pins to connect to e.g. an FET switch, and theconductor regions 47, 48 act as signal pins to connect to e.g. a controlIC. The conductor region 43 acting as a power pin has a large area andis spaced apart from the other conductor regions 42, 44, 47, 48 by asmall spacing, so that the top surface (i.e., the surface orientedupwards in FIG. 4B) of the inductive component 62 is covered almostentirely by the conductor regions 42, 43, 44, 47 and 48 of theconnecting conductor 40. As previously described, the connectingconductor 40 on the outer surface of the inductive component 62 has atleast a portion thereof isolated from the pin conductor 40′, i.e., nodirect physical and electrical connection exists on the outer surface ofthe inductive component 62 between at least a portion of the connectingconductor 40 and the pin conductor 40′. More specifically, only when theinductive component 62 is connected with other electronic components ora circuit board, will the pin conductor 40′ be electrically connectedwith the surface of at least a portion or total of the connectingconductor 40 indirectly via the other electronic components or thecircuit board. Therefore, no direct electrical connection exists on theouter surface of the inductive component 62 between portions of theconductor regions 42, 43, 44, 47, 48 and the pins 41, 45 of the pinconductor 40′. Such a pin design of a large area may not only help tosubstantially enlarge a heat dissipation area of the first electroniccomponent (i.e., the inductor) 62, but may also effectively improve theheat dissipation performance of an electronic apparatus as a whole(e.g., a power converter) using the inductive component 62. Typically,the pin conductor 40′ of the first conductive layer 61 shown in FIG. 4Aand FIG. 4B is made prior to the formation of the connecting conductor40. Taking a wire wound inductor 140 as an example of the inductivecomponent 62, a schematic diagram of the inductor 140 and a process forproducing the pin conductor 40′ of the inductor 140 are illustrated inFIGS. 14A to 14D. FIGS. 14A and 14B are a top view and a bottom view ofan inductor made of a powder core through e.g. a compressing process;FIG. 14C depicts a profile of the inductor before coil pins are bent,and FIG. 14D depicts a structure of the coil inside the inductor. Inmore detail, the inductor 140 comprises a magnetic material portion 141and an internal metal coil 142, with two ends of the internal metal coil142 stretching out of the magnetic material portion 141 becoming the pinconductors 143 respectively. By wrapping the internal metal coil 142with the power and compressing them together, the inductor 140 comesinto being, and the pin conductors 143 at both ends of the internalmetal coil 142 are bent and attached onto a second surface of theinductor 140.

On the other hand, the connecting conductor 40 of the first conductivelayer 61 in this embodiment may be formed on an outer surface of theinductive component 62 in two primary methods. One method is to form theconnecting conductor 40 onto a body surface of the inductive component62 directly, and the second is to form the connecting conductor 40independently before fixing it onto the first surface of the body of theinductive component 62. This will be detailed hereinafter.

For example, a specific method to form the connecting conductor 40 ontoa body surface of the inductive component 62 directly may comprise thefollowing steps: initially, a layer of conductive material such ascopper is formed on the body surface of the inductive component 62through a surface metallization process such as a chemical vapordeposition (CVD) or a physical vapor deposition (PVD), e.g., byevaporating, sputtering, or spraying a conductive material. Then, theconductive layer is exposed to light, patterned and developed to formthe connecting conductor 40 on the first surface of the inductivecomponent 62.

As shown in FIGS. 5A to 5E, the second method to form the firstconductive layer 61 on a body surface of the inductive component 62 maybe implemented in the following two ways. In a first way, a frame 51comprising the first conductive layer 61 is made independently at first,as shown in FIG. 5A. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 5B, the frame 51 isput into a mold for producing the inductive component 62 during aprocess of producing the inductive component 62, and then compressedinto an outer surface of the inductive component 62 during a compressingprocess. After that, an excessive portion of the frame 51 is cut awayand the remaining portion forms the first conductive layer 61 as shownin FIG. 5C. Then the first conductive layer 61 is bent in such a waythat it wraps the first surface of the inductive component 62. Finally,an integrated structure 53 with a complete wrapped layer is formed.

In a second way, as shown in FIG. 5B, the first conductive layer 61 ofthe frame 51 is adhered to the first surface of the inductive component62 through a kind of the adhesive e.g. a thermosetting adhesive.Subsequently, the frame 51 is bent in such a way that the firstconductive layer 61 wraps the first surface of the inductive component62. Finally, by performing a thermal process to thermoset the adhesive,the first conductive layer 61 is fixedly wrapped onto the first surfaceof the inductive component 62, thus an integrated structure 53 with acomplete wrapped layer is formed.

Furthermore, in the integrated structure 53 obtained by the aforesaidmethod of this invention, a maximum spacing between the first conductivelayer 61 and the inductive component 62 is less than 0.3 mm which isgood to the thermal conduction performance, small volume or easyapplication of the production method such as a chemical vapor deposition(CVD) or a physical vapor deposition. FIGS. 5D and 5E illustrate abottom view and a top view respectively of the integrated structure 53where the frame 51 is bent to wrap the inductive component 62.

Referring to FIGS. 6A, 6B and 6C, a particular application of the firstembodiment of this invention is illustrated therein. FIGS. 6A and 6Billustrate a top view and a bottom view of a DC to DC converterrespectively, and FIG. 6C illustrates a top view of an assembled circuitincorporating this DC to DC converter. The aforesaid inductive component62 having large-area pins is applied in the DC to DC converter 60 shownin FIGS. 6A and 6B, and the DC to DC converter 60 may be e.g. a point ofload (POL) buck converter. The assembled circuit 4 shown in FIG. 6C is acircuit structure adopting the DC to DC converter 60, and will bedescribed in detail hereinafter.

As shown, the assembled circuit 4 in this embodiment comprises a firstand a second carrier for supporting electronic components, e.g., a firstcircuit board 69 and a second circuit board 63. The assembled circuit 4further comprises the aforesaid DC to DC converter 60 and the firstcircuit board 69 wherein the aforesaid DC to DC converter 60 comprisesan inductive component 62, a first conductive layer 61, a firstelectronic component 66, two second electronic components 64, 65, andtwo third electronic components 67, 68. In this embodiment, theinductive component 62, the first electronic component 66, the secondelectronic components 64, 65, and the third electronic components 67, 68are an inductor, a control chip, capacitors and FETs respectively.However, in other aspects, each of the electronic components may be oneof an inductor, a resistor, a capacitor, an FET, a control chip, and anintegrated circuit (IC) etc.; wherein the IC may be formed byintegrating e.g. at least two of an inductor, a resistor, a capacitor,an FET, and a control chip etc. The FETs serving as the third electroniccomponents 67, 68 are also known as a switch element or a power element,and may be e.g. metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors(MOSFETs), IGBT etc.

Referring to FIGS. 6A, 6B and 6C, the first circuit board 69 iselectrically connected with the DC to DC converter 60 through theconnecting conductor 40 wrapping the first surface of the inductivecomponent 62. The first electronic component 66 is also electricallyconnected with the connecting conductor 40. More specifically, the firstelectronic component 66 is electrically connected with the connectingconductor 40 via the second circuit board 63.

As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the inductive component 62, the firstelectronic component 66, the second electronic components 64, 65, andthe third electronic components 67, 68 are mounted on the second circuitboard 63 to form the DC to DC converter 60. More specifically, thesecond circuit board 63 is generally a printed circuit board (PCB)having two opposite sides. On one side of the second circuit board 63are mounted the inductive component 62 wrapped with the first conductivelayer 61 and the second electronic components 64, 65, and on the otherside are mounted the first electronic component 66 and the thirdelectronic components 67, 68, as shown in FIG. 6B. FIG. 6C is aperspective view of the assembled circuit 4 formed by mounting the DC toDC converter 60 having the integrated structure 53 onto the firstcircuit board 69. As shown, the DC to DC converter 60 is mounted on thefirst circuit board 69 by means of the conductive regions 42, 43, 44,47, 48 acting as pins in the connecting conductor 40 that wraps theinductive component 62.

Since the conductor regions 42, 43, 44, 47, 48 of the connectingconductor 40 of the inductive component 62 are distributed on the outersurface of the inductive component 62, the DC to DC converter 60 isadapted to be electrically connected with the first circuit board 69 viathe conductor regions 42, 43, 44, 47, 48 of the connecting conductor 40of the inductive component 62. As a result, when being installed ontothe first circuit board 69, the DC to DC converter 60 occupies lessspace on the first circuit board 69. On the other hand, since when theDC to DC converter 60 is installed onto the first circuit board 69, itis the body of the inductive component 62 not the circuit board 63 thatserves the mechanical support for the entire DC to DC converter 60, thusin practical use the thickness needed of the second circuit board 63 canbe remarkably reduced. In this way, a space saving is achieved in the DCto DC converter 60 and even in the assembled circuit 4 as a whole, whicheffectively improves the power density of the DC to DC converter 60.

Additionally, as the first electronic component 66 and the thirdelectronic components 67, 68 are the main heat-generating components,the overall heat dissipation performance of the DC to DC converter 60can be enhanced by dissipating heat from the pin 66 a of the firstelectronic component 66 and the pins 67 a, 68 a of the third electroniccomponents 67, 68 to the ambient through the first conductive layer 61and the thinner second circuit board 63 which has better thermalconduction performance.

The above description relates to a practical application of thisinvention, which may vary according to practical requirements. Forexample, a second embodiment of this invention to be described appliesthe similar structure to an assembled circuit of a DC to DC converter70, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B. The second embodiment differs from thefirst embodiment in that, the second electronic components 64, 65 of thefirst embodiment are electrically connected at first to the secondcircuit board 63 and then electrically connected to the connectingconductor 40 of the first conductive layer 61 via the second circuitboard 63; in contrast, the second electronic components 72, 73 of thesecond embodiment make a physical and electrical connection directlywith the connecting conductor 71 on an outer surface of the inductivecomponent 74. More specifically, the second electronic components 72, 73are mounted directly onto the connecting conductor 71 as shown in FIG.7A. A perspective view illustrating a structure of the DC to DCconverter 70 connected in the aforementioned way is shown in FIG. 7B.

It should be noted that, this embodiment adopts a structure where thefirst conductive layer 71 wraps a surface of the first electroniccomponent (i.e., an inductor) 74. However, in other examples of thisembodiment, the first conductive layer 71 may instead be wrapped on asurface of the first electronic component (not shown) or the thirdelectronic component (not shown) previously described, and then thesecond electronic components (i.e., capacitors) 72, 73 are attacheddirectly onto the first conductive layer 71 that wraps the surface ofthe first electronic component or the third electronic component. Thismay accomplish the same goal as that described above of improving thepower density and shrinking the volume.

FIGS. 11A to 11G illustrate a third embodiment of this invention, whichalso relates to an assembled circuit applied to a DC to DC converter,and particularly a POL DC to DC converter. FIGS. 11A and 11B illustratea top view and a bottom view of the POL DC to DC converter 110respectively. The POL DC to DC converter 110 adopts an inductor made ofa co-fired magnetic material as a substrate. The POL DC to DC converter110 comprises an inductive component, a first conductive layer 112, twosecond electronic components, a fourth electronic component and aninductance coil 116. In this embodiment, the inductive component isformed by stacking a number of co-fired magnetic material substrates 111together, the second electronic components are capacitors 114, and thefourth electronic component is an integrated circuit (IC) 115integrating e.g. an FET (particularly an MOSFET) and a control chiptogether. As previously described, the first conductive layer 112comprises a connecting conductor and a pin conductor. In thisembodiment, the connecting conductor has four pins 118 and a conductor113 connected therewith, and the pin conductor has two pins 117 and aconductor 113 connected therewith. The first conductive layer 112 wrapsa first surface of the outer surface of the stacked co-fired magneticmaterial substrate 111. The first surface comprises a top surface, abottom surface and side surfaces. More specifically, the side surfacesare wrapped by the conductors 113. The first conductive layer 112 on thetop surface provides electrical connections between the capacitors 114,the IC 115 and the like. When being mounted onto a carrier (which is amain circuit board here and not shown), the assembled circuit may beelectrically connected with the carrier via the first conductive layer112 of the bottom surface. On the other hand, the conductors 113wrapping the side surfaces function to electrically connect the firstconductive layer 112 on the top surface with that on the bottom surface.

In more detail, the co-fired magnetic material inductor 111 is formed bysintering multiple layers of magnetic material together, which is aprocess similar to the low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) process.As shown in FIG. 11E, the inductance coil 116 comprises a plurality ofconnecting conductive elements 119, which are formed in the followingway. At first, a number of through-holes are formed in each middlemagnetic material layer in such a way that corresponding through-holeson these layers will substantially superposed with each other after themagnetic material layers are stacked together in parallel. In a similarway, a number of semi-circular through-holes are formed at two oppositesides of each magnetic material layer, and are filled with a metalmaterial such as silver (Ag), palladium (Pd), gold (Au) or copper (Cu)to form the connecting conductive elements 119 and the pins 117, 118 ofthe inductance coil 116. A number of conductors are made on a topsurface of the uppermost magnetic material layer and a bottom surface ofthe lowermost magnetic material layer, with each of the conductorsconnecting two through-holes in the magnetic material layer. Finally,the multiple magnetic material layers are laminated together to form theinductance coil 116 and a portion of the first conductive layer 113,with the inductance coil 116 being electrically connected to the pins117 of the pin conductor.

Subsequently, a magnetic material layer is stacked on or an insulationmaterial layer is applied to each of the top surface and the bottomsurfaces of the completed inductor. Then, semi-circular through-holesare formed in the magnetic material layers or the insulation materiallayers and filled with a metal material to form the co-fired magneticmaterial substrate 111. A first conductive layer 112 is formed on asurface of the co-fired magnetic material substrate 111 to connect withelectronic components (e.g., the capacitors 114 and the IC 115 having anFET and a control chip integrated together) mounted on the substrate111. Thus, a complete POL DC to DC converter 110 as shown in FIGS. 11Aand 11B is formed. FIG. 11C is a schematic view of the co-fired magneticmaterial substrate 111 and the first conductive layer 112. FIG. 11D is aschematic view of the co-fired magnetic material substrate 111, with itsfirst layer removed to show the electrical connection between theinductance coil 116 inside the co-fired magnetic material substrate 111and the pins. FIG. 11E is a perspective view illustrating an internalstructure corresponding to FIG. 11D. The winding direction of theinductance coil 116 is visible in this figure, and it is clear that thepins 117 are connected with the inductance coil 116. FIG. 11F is aschematic view illustrating internal circuits of the co-fired magneticmaterial substrate 111 other than the first layer, the second layer andthe last layer. FIG. 11G is a schematic view of the last circuit layerin the co-fired magnetic material substrate 111. It can be seen fromthese figures that, the connecting conductor on the outer surface of theco-fired magnetic material substrate 111 are at least partially orentirely isolated from the pin conductor, i.e., there exists no directphysical and electrical connection on the outer surface between at leasta portion or the entirety of the connecting conductor and the pinconductor. More specifically, at least a portion or the entirety of theconnecting conductor is indirectly connected with the pin conductor.That is, only when the co-fired magnetic material substrate 111 isstacked with other electronic components such as the capacitors 114 andthe IC 115 thereon, will the pin 118 of the connecting conductor beelectrically connected with the pin 117 of the pin conductor indirectlyvia the other electronic components.

FIGS. 12A to 12D illustrate a fourth embodiment of this invention, whichalso relates to an assembled circuit applied to e.g. a DC to DCconverter, and particularly a POL DC to DC converter 120. FIGS. 12A and12B illustrate a top view and a bottom view respectively of the POL DCto DC converter 120 where an inductance coil 127 is compressed in amagnetic material substrate 125. The POL DC to DC converter 120comprises a fourth electronic component, two second electroniccomponents, a first conductive layer 123, and an inductive component.The fourth electronic component is an integrated circuit (IC) 121 havinge.g. an FET (particularly an MOSFET) and a control chip integratedtherein, the two second electronic components are both capacitors 122,and the inductive component comprises the magnetic material substrate125 and the inductance coil 127 described above. As previouslydescribed, the first conductive layer 123 comprises a connectingconductor having four pins 124 and a pin conductor having two pins 126.Each of the pins 124 of the connecting conductor and the pins 126 of thepin conductor has a conductor 129.

The first conductive layer 123 wraps a first surface of the outersurface of the magnetic material substrate 125. The first surfacecomprises a top surface, a bottom surface and side surfaces. Morespecifically, the side surfaces are wrapped by the conductors 129 of thefirst conductive layer 123. The IC 121 and the capacitors 122 aredirectly attached onto the first conductive layer 123, and make directcontact therewith to establish an electrical connection. Morespecifically, the conductors 129 are formed in a through-hole formthrough the top and the bottom surfaces of the magnetic materialsubstrate 125, in order to establish an electrical connection betweenthe top and the bottom surfaces of the magnetic material substrate 125.When being mounted onto a carrier (e.g. a main circuit board here andnot shown), the assembled circuit may be electrically connected with thecarrier via the first conductive layer 123. Meanwhile, the conductor 129in the two pins 126 of the pin conductor are electrically connected withthe flat coil pins 128 at both ends of the inductance coil 127 insidethe magnetic material substrate 125. FIG. 12C is a schematic view of themagnetic material substrate 125, the first conductive layer 123 and theconductors 129. FIG. 12D is a perspective view illustrating an internalstructure corresponding to FIG. 12C; as shown in this figure, the coilpins 128 at both ends of the inductance coil 127 are connected with theconductors 129 of the pins 126 of the pin conductor.

As in the third embodiment, the inductance coil 127 has been compressedinto the magnetic material substrate 125 when the substrate 125 isproduced. Furthermore, as previously described and as can be seen fromthe figures, the pins 124 of the connecting conductor are at leastpartially or entirely isolated from the pins 126 of the pin conductor.In other words, there exists no direct physical and electricalconnection on the outer surface between at least a portion or theentirety of the pins 124 of the connecting conductor and the pins 126 ofthe pin conductor.

FIGS. 13A to 13F illustrate a fifth embodiment of this invention, whichstill relates to an assembled circuit applied to a DC to DC convertere.g. a POL DC to DC converter. FIGS. 13A and 13B illustrate a top viewand a bottom view respectively of the POL DC to DC converter 13 where aninductance coil 138 is made via through holes in a magnetic materialsubstrate 136. The POL DC to DC converter 130 comprises a fourthelectronic component, two second electronic components, an insulatinglayer 133, a first conductive layer 134 and an inductive component. Thefourth electronic component is an IC 131 having e.g. an FET(particularly an MOSFET) and a control chip integrated therein; the twosecond electronic components are both capacitors 132; and the inductivecomponent comprises the magnetic material substrate 136 and theinductance coil 138 described above. The first conductive layer 134comprises a connecting conductor having four pins 135 and a pinconductor having two pins 137. Each of the pins 135 of the connectingconductor and the pins 137 of the pin conductor has a conductor 139.

The first conductive layer 134 wraps a first surface of the outersurface of the magnetic material substrate 136. The first surfacecomprises a bottom surface and side surfaces. More specifically, theside surfaces are wrapped by the conductors 139 of the first conductivelayer 134. Additionally, the first conductive layer 134 further wrapsthe insulating layer 133 disposed on a top surface of the magneticmaterial substrate 136. The IC 131 and the capacitors 132 are directlyattached onto a top surface of the magnetic material substrate 136, andmake direct electrical contact therewith the first conductive layer 134.More specifically, the conductors 139 are formed in a through-hole formthrough the top and the bottom surfaces of the magnetic materialsubstrate 136, in order to establish an electrical connection across thetop and the bottom surfaces of the magnetic material substrate 136. Aspreviously described, the insulating layer 133 is interposed between thefirst conductive layer 134 and the magnetic material substrate 136 toprovide insulation therebetween.

When being mounted onto a carrier (which is a main circuit board hereand not shown), the assembled circuit may be electrically connected withthe carrier via the first conductive layer 134. FIG. 13C is a schematicview of the magnetic material substrate 136, the first conductive layer134, the insulating layer 133 and the conductors 139, and FIG. 13D is aside view corresponding to FIG. 13C. FIG. 13E is a schematic view of themagnetic material substrate 136 without the insulating layer 133 beingcovered thereon; FIG. 13F is a perspective view illustrating an internalstructure corresponding to FIG. 13E, in which the winding direction isvisible. As shown in this figure, the two connecting conductive elements139′ of the two pins 137 are both adapted to connect the inductance coil138 with the conductor 139.

This embodiment may be implemented in the following way. Through-holesare drilled in the magnetic material substrate 136 and electro-plated toform an inductance coil 138. Then an adhesive insulating layer 133 iscoated on a top surface of the magnetic material substrate 136, and afirst conductive layer 134 is laminated onto the surface of the magneticmaterial substrate 136. Subsequently, through-holes are drilled andelectro-plated to obtain the conductors 139. This process is justsimilar to a manufacturing process of a PCB.

Furthermore, as previously described and as can be seen from thefigures, the pins 135 of the connecting conductor are at least partiallyor entirely isolated from the pins 137 of the pin conductor. In otherwords, there exists no direct physical and electrical connection on theouter surface between at least a portion or the entirety of the pins 135of the connecting conductor and the pins 137 of the pin conductor;rather, they are indirectly connected via the circuit board or otherelectronic components such as the IC 131 and the capacitors 132.

To summarize, the third to the fifth embodiments all utilize themagnetic material of the inductor as a substrate of the entire POL DC toDC converter. The magnetic material substrate acting as a body of theinductive component has a first conductive layer wrapped on a topsurface thereof to electrically connect various electronic components.The electronic component may be e.g. one of an inductor, a resistor, acapacitor, an FET, a control chip, and an integrated circuit (IC) etc.;and furthermore, the IC may be formed by integrating e.g. at least twoof an inductor, a resistor, a capacitor, an FET, and a control chip etc.An electrical connection between the electronic component and the firstconductive layer may be implemented by the surface mounting technology,wire bonding or the like technologies. The input/output (I/O) terminalsfor electrical signals of the POL DC to DC converter, i.e., pins of thePOL DC to DC converter are disposed on the bottom surface of theinductor, which are adapted to be soldered onto a circuit board (i.e.,the first carrier in the previous embodiments). Both the top and thebottom surfaces of the inductor are connected via conductors of thefirst conductive layer. It should be emphasized that, if such electroniccomponents such as capacitors and resistors are integrated in the POL DCto DC converter, it will be more advantageous for alleviating influenceimposed by parasitic parameters inside the POL DC to DC converter, thusresulting in better electrical performance.

FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate a sixth embodiment of this invention, whichalso applies the characteristics described in the first embodiment to aDC to DC converter. Also, in this embodiment, a DC to DC converter 80may be connected to a first carrier (which is a circuit board herein andnot shown). The DC to DC converter 80 of this embodiment comprises asecond carrier, an inductive component 89 a, a first electroniccomponent 85, two second electronic components 89 b, and two thirdelectronic components 89 c. The second carrier may be, for example, asecond circuit board 88. Similar to the first embodiment, the firstelectronic component 85 also has a first conductive layer wrapped on asurface thereof to provide an electrical connection between the DC to DCconverter and the first carrier. The first conductive layer comprises aconnecting conductor and a pin conductor 84, in which the connectingconductor further has a number of pins 81, 82, 83, 86, 87. In thisembodiment, the inductive component 89 a, the first electronic component85, the second electronic components 89 b and the third electroniccomponents 89 c are an inductor, a control chip, capacitors and FETsrespectively. A seventh embodiment of this invention also applies theaforesaid characteristics to a DC to DC converter 90. As shown in FIGS.9A and 9B, in this embodiment, the DC to DC converter 90 may also beconnected to a first carrier (which is a circuit board herein and notshown). The DC to DC converter 90 comprises a second carrier, aninductive component 98 a, a first electronic component 98 b, two secondelectronic components 98 c, and two third electronic components 93. Thesecond carrier is a second circuit board 97. Similar to the sixthembodiment, the third electronic components 93 has a first conductivelayer wrapped on a surface thereof to provide an electrical connectionbetween the DC to DC converter and the first carrier. The firstconductive layer comprises a connecting conductor and a pin conductor94, in which the connecting conductor further has a number of pins 91,92, 95, 96. In this embodiment, the inductive component 98 a, the firstelectronic component 98 b, the second electronic components 98 c and thethird electronic components 93 are an inductor, a control chip,capacitors and FETs respectively.

An eighth embodiment of this invention is shown in FIG. 10. Similarly inthis embodiment, a DC to DC converter 100 comprises a second carrier, aninductive component 106, a first electronic component 101, two secondelectronic components 107, and two third electronic components 103, 104.In this embodiment, the second carrier is a second circuit board 102.Similar to the previous embodiment, two first conductive layers 105 a,105 b wrap surfaces of the electronic components 101, 103, 104 toprovide an electrical connection between the DC to DC converter 100 anda first carrier (which is a circuit board herein and not shown). Theinductive component 106, the first electronic component 101, the secondelectronic components 107 and the third electronic components 103, 104are an inductor, a control chip, capacitors and FETs respectively.

The DC to DC converters described above all comprises a number ofseparate electronic components. However, development of packagetechnologies allows more and more electronic components to be packagedinto an IC, which further shrinks volume of the electronic components.Therefore, the electronic component wrapped with a connecting conductormay also be an IC. Furthermore, it should be noted that, although theprevious embodiments all relate to application of an assembled circuitsin a DC to DC converter, the assembled circuit of this invention mayalso be applied in other kinds of converters to provide connectionsbetween the converter and a circuit board.

This invention adopts a large-area conductive layer as a pin structure.This may not only help to enhance the thermal dissipation performance ofthe individual electronic components, but also facilitate theimprovement of the thermal dissipation performance of the DC to DCconverter as a whole. Hence, the connecting structure of this inventionmay shrink the overall size and improve the power density of theconverter.

The above disclosure is related to the detailed technical contents andinventive features thereof. People skilled in this field may proceedwith a variety of modifications and replacements based on thedisclosures and suggestions of the invention as described withoutdeparting from the characteristics thereof. Nevertheless, although suchmodifications and replacements are not fully disclosed in the abovedescriptions, they have substantially been covered in the followingclaims as appended.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electrical component, comprising: a unitarymagnetic body having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a first and asecond side surface each extending from the top surface to the bottomsurface, wherein a first conductive through hole is formed on the firstside surface of the unitary magnetic body, and a second conductivethrough hole is formed on the second side surface; and a coil disposedin the unitary magnetic body, wherein a first end of the coil and asecond end of the coil are on the top surface of the unitary magneticbody, wherein a first electrode and a second electrode are disposed onthe bottom surface of the unitary magnetic body, wherein the firstelectrode is electrically connected to the first end of the coil via thefirst conductive through hole formed on the first side surface of theunitary magnetic body, and the second electrode is electricallyconnected to the second end of the coil via the second conductivethrough hole formed on the second side surface opposite to the firstside surface of the unitary magnetic body.
 2. The electrical componentas claimed in claim 1, wherein the first conductive through hole has asemi-circular shape.
 3. The electrical component as claimed in claim 1,wherein the electrical component is an inductor.
 4. An inductivecomponent, comprising: a unitary magnetic body having a top surface, abottom surface, and a first and a second side surface each extendingfrom the top surface to the bottom surface, wherein a first conductivethrough hole and a second conductive through hole are formed on thefirst side surface and the second side surface of the unitary magneticbody, respectively; and a coil disposed in the unitary magnetic body,wherein a plurality of third conductive through holes are disposed inthe unitary magnetic body, wherein each of the plurality of thirdconductive through holes is formed from the top surface to the bottomsurface of the unitary magnetic body, wherein the plurality of thirdconductive through holes are electrically connected via conductivepatterns on the top surface and the bottom surface so as to form thecoil, wherein a first end and a second end of the coil are on the topsurface of the unitary magnetic body, wherein a first electrode and asecond electrode are disposed on the bottom surface of the unitarymagnetic body, wherein the first electrode is electrically connected tothe first end of the coil via the first conductive through hole formedon the first side surface of the unitary magnetic body, and the secondelectrode is electrically connected to the second end of the coil viathe second conductive through hole formed on the second side surfaceopposite to the first side surface of the unitary magnetic body.
 5. Theelectrical component as claimed in claim 4, wherein the plurality ofthird conductive through holes comprises a first set of conductivethrough holes disposed in the unitary magnetic body in a first sequence;and a second set of conductive through holes disposed in the unitarymagnetic body in a second sequence, wherein each of the first set ofconductive through holes has a corresponding conductive through hole ofthe second set of conductive through holes, wherein each of the firstset of conductive through holes is electrically connected to thecorresponding conductive through hole of the second set of conductivethrough holes via the bottom surface of the unitary magnetic body; andeach of the first set of conductive through holes is electricallyconnected to an adjacent conductive through hole of the correspondingconductive through hole in the second sequence via the top surface ofthe unitary magnetic body so as to form the coil.
 6. The electricalcomponent as claimed in claim 4, wherein the electrical component is aninductor.
 7. An electrical component, comprising: a unitary magneticbody having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a first and a secondside surface each extending from the top surface to the bottom surface,wherein a first conductive through hole is formed on the first sidesurface and a second conductive through hole is formed on the secondside surface; a coil disposed in the unitary magnetic body; and aconductive element disposed over the unitary magnetic body, wherein afirst end and a second end of the coil are on the top surface of theunitary magnetic body, wherein a first electrode and a second electrodeare disposed on the bottom surface of the unitary magnetic body, whereinthe first electrode is electrically connected to the first end of thecoil via the first conductive through hole formed on the first sidesurface of the unitary magnetic body, and the second electrode iselectrically connected to the second end of the coil via the secondconductive through hole formed on the second side surface opposite tothe first side surface of the unitary magnetic body.
 8. The electricalcomponent as claimed in claim 7, wherein the first conductive throughhole has a semi-circular shape.